


Birthday Surprise

by Amorfati32



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Originally Posted on Tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-01
Updated: 2018-01-01
Packaged: 2019-02-26 08:08:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13231584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amorfati32/pseuds/Amorfati32
Summary: William has plans for his dad's birthday





	Birthday Surprise

“So umm…I’ve been thinking…”

Scully glanced up from the potatoes she’d been peeling, setting them aside to face to her son. Even now, almost a year after he came back into their lives, she felt as though she needed to pinch herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. William stood in the doorway to the kitchen, his expression serious. He was worrying his lower lip, just as she did when she was fretting about something. “Should I be concerned?”

It hadn’t been the easiest twelve months, at least not for William. By the time Mulder and Scully had tracked down their son, his parents – at least his adopted parents – had succumbed to the alien virus, while William was mourning his mother and father, only to find his other parents on the doorstep. Realizing he had nowhere else to go, no extended family to turn to, he’d agreed to stay with Mulder and Scully, to their relief. He was still grieving his other parents, rightfully so, and also adapting to not only living with his biological mother and father, but getting to know them too, while Mulder and Scully were adjusting to being parents of a teenage boy; a talented, gifted, intelligent and beautiful boy. They had fifteen years to catch up on, a lot of hurt, anger, guilt and upset to work through, but they were getting there, slowly. And Mulder and Scully had also spent the last year working through their own issues, and their separation. They were now back living with one another, permanently. They’d been practically forced into reuniting when they brought their son back home, wanting to not only provide him with a stable home, but to both get to know him, but over the course of the year they’d decided to give their marriage another go, with William’s blessing. He was grateful that despite all of the horror they’d witnessed, someone was able to get a happy ending.

“It’s nothing to worry about.”

Scully let out the breath she didn’t realize she was holding. “What is it sweetheart?” The endearment now came naturally, but right at the start, when William first came to live with them, Scully was hesitant when addressing her son, realizing he was mourning another mother, and not wanting to push him too fast too soon.

“It’s October.”

“It is…” She wasn’t quite sure where he was heading with his statement.

“It’s Halloween soon.”

“Are you asking if you can have a Halloween party?” To both Mulder and Scully’s relief, William had settled into his new school well and seemed to be making friends easily, something his parents had never managed to master themselves.

“No but…well if you’re offering that would be cool.”

Scully grinned, shaking her head. Sometimes he reminded her so much like Mulder it was uncanny. “Nice try.”

“Actually it is a party.”

“Right…” She’d been waiting for this day for some time. He was growing up too quickly, and was now at the age where he was eager to please his friends. “Well I’ll have to check with Mulder, but if we do say yes there’s going to have to be some rules. We’ll have to be here –”

“Not a party for me.”

Scully paused, leaning back against the counter. “I’m confused.”

“I think it’s Mulder’s birthday next week.”

“It is.” She’d completely forgotten, having been so busy with work lately. She made a mental note to buy him a card and think of a gift. Maybe an overnight in a hotel somewhere, she thought to herself. Coinciding with a weekend that William stayed with one of his friends. 

“I was thinking we could throw him a party.”

“A…really?” Scully’s first instinct was to immediately shoot down William’s suggestion. Mulder wasn’t exactly a sociable guy, and she knew he normally hated parties. He’d declined every time she’d invited him to work gatherings over the years, until she’d eventually stopped asking him. But then she realized it was William’s suggestion, and there was no way that Mulder would hate the idea. He idolized his son and Scully had to admit she still felt as though her heart would burst every time she saw the two of them together. William favored his dad’s looks; he was tall, athletic, with brown hair, a distinct nose, endless supply of wit and an occasional disregard for the rules. If it wasn’t for his bright blue eyes and fair complexion Scully could have almost convinced herself he was Mulder’s clone. “A party?”

“Yeah.”

“Why? I mean…why a party?”

William shrugged. “I just thought after the past year we all needed something to look forward to. A celebration I guess.” He sighed. “Is it a shit idea?”

“Language.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s not a shit idea.”

“Language.”

She grinned. Definitely Mulder’s son. “When you say party…?”

“Just a small gathering,” explained William. “A few decorations, music and food.”

It would have to be small, Scully mused. Their contact list had sadly dwindled in recent years. “Who would we invite?”

“Skinner would come, wouldn’t he?”

Walter Skinner, their boss and now, more importantly, their friend. “I’m sure he would.” She waited patiently for William to continue, but he was having a hard time thinking of other people on their guest list.

“No,” he said a few moments later. “You’re right, it’s a bad idea.” He turned to walk out of the kitchen and so Scully sprang into action, rushing after her son.

“It’s not a bad idea William,” she said as they entered the dining room. She tugged on William’s shoulder, urging him to stop and listen to her. Thankfully he did, though she noticed the light from his eyes had diminished somewhat.

“Your fa…Mulder doesn’t have many acquaintances,” she explained. “He’s not exactly the easiest guy to get along with sometimes, and it doesn’t help that he doesn’t like to socialize. It doesn’t help that some of our friends over the years have passed.” William nodded in understanding. “But I think he’d love your idea, and I know for a fact that he’d love this no matter how many people were invited. So let’s make it the four of us, five if Walter wants to bring Elaine. You could bring Sophie too if you wanted.”

At the mention of his girlfriend’s name, William scrunched up his nose in disgust. “I’m not ready for her to meet you guys,” he said. “No offence.”

“None taken.” And Scully knew why. Since he’d found out William had a girlfriend, Mulder had attempted some awkward conversations with his son, embarrassing them both in the process.

“So you think it’s a good idea?”

Scully nodded. “I think it’s a great idea.”

“Great.” William looked relieved, clearly wanting to do something special for his dad. Scully couldn’t wait for Mulder to find out.

Xxxxx

Mulder had never been a big fan of birthdays, particularly his own. After Samantha had been abducted his birthday had never felt the same, and was just a reminder of how long he’d lived without her. Then, as he got older and lost more people around him, it was a reminder of how alone he’d felt in the world. He’d never really celebrated, and Scully had respected his decision, the two of them usually opting for a home-cooked meal and a glass of wine. It was a tradition that they’d upheld even when he was at his lowest and they’d separated. But that morning, when he’d woken next to his wife, he was a little taken aback, though not too disappointed, when Scully had simply kissed him good morning, rose from the bed and got ready for work. No Happy Birthday, no card and no morning birthday sex. When he’d showered himself and joined his family downstairs, William spoke simply to reconfirm his after school baseball practice and to wish his dad a good day, before he and Scully rushed out of the house on their way to school and the hospital respectively. It appeared they’d forgotten his birthday, but Mulder didn’t care. He had his wife and his son under one roof, that was all he needed.

Xxxxx

“Does it look wonky?” William cocked his head. “It looks wonky.”

Scully entered the kitchen to see her son surveying the cake. “Don’t you dare touch it.”

“It doesn’t look straight.”

“If you touch it, it’ll fall. If it falls it’ll go on the floor, and Dagoo is fat enough as he is, and the sugar will kill him.” She walked over to the counter, placing a hand on her son’s arm. “Mulder will love it.”

“Really?” There was so much hope in his voice, and Scully made a mental note to remind her husband just how much William wanted his approval.

“Really. You’ve outdone yourself with this cake.”

“You helped.” Scully had baked the cake in fact, while William, a keen artist in the making, had been responsible for icing it.

“A team effort.”

They both startled as they suddenly heard a loud bang coming from the living room. “What was that?” Scully asked, her hand clasped to her chest.

“It’s a balloon,” replied William, before they both realized just what had happened.

“Dagoo!” The teenager rushed into the living room, spotting the dog eyeing up the next birthday balloon. “Don’t you dare!”

Dagoo wagged his tail playfully, his ears pricking up. He dared alright. He was just about to go after another balloon when William suddenly heard the sound of a car pulling up in the driveway. “Skinner and Elaine are here!” He quickly chased the dog into Mulder’s study and closed the door, wanting him out of the way so his father could at least see the balloons before they were all destroyed.

Scully joined her son in the living room, watching as Skinner’s car approached the house. She wrapped an arm around William. “I really hope Mulder likes it,” murmured William. His mom could practically feel the nerves radiating from him.

“He’ll love it,” she replied, giving her son a brief hug before moving to open the front door. “And the cake will definitely make up for whatever Dagoo’s chewing up in his office.”

Xxxxxx

As Mulder pulled into the driveway, he frowned as he noticed Skinner’s car outside of the house. He hadn’t mentioned anything earlier that day about needing to speak with him, so he supposed something urgent had come up. Something urgent that would likely take him away from his family for the evening, if not a few days. Sighing to himself dejectedly, Mulder pulled up outside of the house, killed the engine and got out of the car, grabbing his briefcase on the way. As he opened the door and stepped inside, he tripped over something, then looked down to see…a balloon. Several balloons.

“Surprise!”

Lifting his gaze, Mulder caught sight of his family, his wife and son standing with their boss and his own wife, all sporting shit-eating grins. “What the…”

“Happy Birthday!” It was Scully who sprang into action first, walking over towards him to relieve him of his briefcase. As she did so, Mulder had chance to look around the living room, his eyes falling on several banners and streamers hung up on the walls, balloons decorating every item of furniture. “What’s going on?”

“We wanted to surprise you,” said his wife, urging their son forward. “It was William’s idea.”

“But…but you’d forgotten.”

William grinned. “No, you thought we’d forgotten.”

“You did all this?” Mulder picked up a balloon and threw it in Scully’s direction. She shook her head. “I cooked dinner,” she answered. “William did everything else. Including the cake.”

“There’s cake?”

“Yeah.” Smiling shyly, William gestured over towards the dining table, on which sat a magnificent-looking cake, decorated with stars and planets and crowned by a rocket. “Will, that’s amazing!”

“It was nothing.”

Scully shook her head. She’d seen the blood, sweat and tears that had gone into the icing of the cake. It certainly wasn’t nothing. “A creative genius.” Moments later she headed back out into the kitchen to finish dinner, with Elaine following her to help. Skinner made his way over to the office, hearing Dagoo scratching the door from the inside, and giving William and Mulder some time alone.

“This is great Will. I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve this.”

“I just wanted to thank you guys for everything you’ve done for me.” Will shrugged, embarrassed, then suddenly thrust out the card he was holding. “Happy Birthday.”

“Thank you.” Mulder opened the card and paused, feeling a lump form in his throat as he read the words. He swallowed hard as his eyes filled with tears and he read the first line over and over again. “Happy Birthday Dad.” Letting out a deep breath, Mulder set down the card and looked up at his son, who was looking apprehensive. “Thanks Will,” he said, walking over to his son and giving him a hug. “Thanks for everything.”

William wrapped his arms around his dad for the first time he could remember. “Happy Birthday Dad.”


End file.
